Second Republican senator backs gay marriage

Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Illinois on Tuesday became the second Republican senator to endorse same-sex marriage, his support announced as legislators seem on the verge of making Illinois the 10th state (along with the District of Columbia) to legalize marriage equality.

Kirk, who spent much of 2012 recovering from a stroke, said in very personal statement:

“Same sex couples should have the right to civil marriage. Our time on this Earth is limited, I know that better than most. Life comes down to who you love and who loves you back — government has no place in the middle.”

Kirk joins Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, who endorsed marriage equality last month, citing a change of mind prompted when his son Will, a student at Yale, came out as a gay man. Only two Republican House members have backed same-sex marriage. The House Republican leadership is defending, at taxpayer expense, the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Kirk was elected in 2010 to fill the Senate seat formerly held by President Obama.